In the middle of the desert lies a flower
by littlehearts
Summary: A story between Gaara and his old friend. Could it be her?


**NOTE: **Moshi moshi! Sakura here. This is my first ever fanfic and I'm kinda new to writing one, so pardon me if there is grammar mistakes (english is not my main language). So, I hope you enjoy this story and sorry, it's kinda short. But I'll make it longer for the next chapter. And if you have time review plz, so I can make it better. Arigatou!

**DISCLAIMER: **I, for one, do not own naruto. Everyone knows this, ain't it?

Gaara: ...

Me: hits Gaara's head

**Chapter 1 – The Kazekage**

It was a windy day and it is not a day for a nice stroll. It looks like it was about to rain in the Sand Village. Gaara winced as tiny droplets have turned into massive amount of raindrops. He hates the feeling of cold, it reminds him of loneliness. But somehow, in a way, he enjoys it. He was interrupted by his siblings as they entered the Kazekage's room.

"It's raining heavily. Should we postpone our journey for a while?" said his older sister. He turned around and faced them with his arms crossed.

"No." He finally replied. "Our mission to Konoha must be carried out as soon as possible." He turned back to the window and watched the rain touched the leaves of the trees. "After all, they are our allies."

"Hmph." said Kankurou, placing his hands to the back of his head. "Konoha brats."

"Well, let's get going." said Temari. Unlike Kankurou, she was actually very happy to hear the news of visiting Konoha village to carry out an important mission. At last, I could see my Shika Shika again, she thought with gleaming eyes. Kankurou looked her in disgust.

"Oh please, don't make me lose my breakfast." joked Kankurou.

Temari glared at him with a terrifying expression. She tried to hit him with her large fan, but Kankurou was too quick and ducked.

"Haha, miss me!" shouted Kankurou, making a silly face.

Gaara sighed as his older siblings trashed the Kazekage's room by Temari's wind jutsu. Once there was a sand tornado created in the Sand Country because of them. While the two of them fight, he was thinking about the mission The 5th Hokage mentioned.

_The sand siblings arrived at Konoha…_

The Konoha village was a peaceful village. The birds are chipping, villagers are walking cheerfully and the children are running around enjoying themselves.

"Sure is peaceful here." said Kankurou. They walked across the village and headed to the Konoha headquarter. On their way, they were approached by a familiar face.

"What are you guys doing here?" said Chouji looking surprised. He was munching a bag of chips as usual.

"We are here to see the Hokage for a mission. We're heading to the headquarters." said Temari. Her heart began to beat faster as she saw Shikamaru behind Chouji. He was wearing his usual expression: the expression that made her fall in love.

"I was about to go there too. Tsunade expected you guys to arrive at this moment." said Shikamaru calmly.

"Well, let's go together." said Temari happily. Kankurou and Gaara said nothing and started walking, leaving the couple behind them. After Shikamaru said goodbye to Chouji, he quickly fixed his eyes to Temari. This made her blush but she's at her calm expression ever.

"Long time no see you." he said briefly, turning his face away when he realized he was staring at her face.

"Yeah." said Temari. "I miss bugging you." She glanced at Shikamaru and let out a little laugh. He smiled as he heard the cutest, childish laugh Temari had given to him.

"I know." He said while closing his eyes. It is one of his habits to close his eyes. Temari saw him and thought, this might be a big opportunity for her to kiss him while no one is looking. She moved her lips closer and closer to his cheeks. She closed her eyes as her lips touched his cheeks. She could imagine her Shika Shika blushed and he would be in love with her even more. She opened her eyes and watched the most terrifying sight ever.

"AAAAAA!!!" shrieked Temari. Temari almost fall to the ground while the blonde-haired ninja was greatly shocked and startled by Temari's shouting.

"Naruto!" said Temari, looking embarrassed. The blonde haired ninja had the expression of half-shocked and half-scared.

"Sorry, I was about to check whether if it was Gaara-kun, Kankurou-kun and Temari-chan who I saw." apologized Naruto.

"That's nice of you, but not by sneaking on my shoulders and appear in front of my face!" said Temari, who is losing her temper.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your kis-" He was cut by Temari who put his hand on his mouth.

"Let's all get going, shall we? We don't want to keep the Hokage waiting." said Temari with a nervous smile. Shikamaru was confused by the whole situation. Kankurou don't even want to know. Temari gave Naruto a death glare that even Naruto don't wish to see. He tagged them along.

Gaara wander his mind while walking. He knew exactly what Naruto was about to say by his last words before Temari cut him off. He couldn't understand the feeling of love. He thought love is just a waste of time. This is really ironic as he has the word "love" on his forehead. He experienced "love" once; but it just failed him. This reminds him of her…

"Gaara." said Kakurou, touching Gaara's shoulders. He was back to reality and responded him.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"What's wrong with you?' asked Temari, looking worried at her little brother.

"I'm fine." said Gaara calmly. He didn't realize they were already at the headquarters' door. They went in and saw Tsunade sitting behind her desk and were looking through piles of papers with her pen on her mouth. With her facial expression, they knew she must be busy all day.

"Ah, I've been expecting the three of you." said Tsunade, standing up. "Eh Naruto, I didn't ask you to come."

"Aaah, why not?" said Naruto.

"Sorry Naruto, this is confidential."

"Eh? Tell me, I want to know! Oba-san!!" Naruto shouted.

"How dare you call me that? I'm your Hokage! Grrrr!" Tsunade roared like a dog, facing its prey. She hand locked Naruto and he tried to struggle. Shikamaru sighed as the sand siblings looked them in astonishment.

"Don't worry. This always happened between both of them." he said.

"Hmph. I've seen the similar situation every day." said Gaara, with his arms crossed.

"Heh. This is normal to us. Right, Gaara?" said Kankurou, placing his gloved hand to his little brother's head.

"Keep you hands off me." said Gaara Kankurou obeyed, but not in a result of defeat. He just doesn't want to create a hassle, just like earlier with Temari.

Tsunade accept in defeat and let the blue-eyed kid stay. It was no use when it comes to Naruto. She almost forgot she has watchful eyes of six and she didn't even realize the welcoming gesture she gave him. She blamed Naruto for raising her temper.

"Ahem, I guess you know why I called you." She took a sip from her coffee form her desk. She looked away to the window and saw the sun shining throughout Konoha.

"We're having a crisis." said Tsunade. Her face has darkened and her expression suddenly changed. "The Rain country is planning to attack Konoha, and its allies. We have to be prepared as soon as possible."

Naruto and the others except Gaara didn't know about the situation as the mission was top secret. Even Temari and Kankurou didn't know about this.

"I had to hide this in the shadow because if we spread the word around, other ninjas will attack Konoha as well." she said. "Only I, Gaara and some other trusted people knew about this and now, it includes you all."

"This task is very dangerous, and very risky. I don't know what Orochimaru is up to, but it's not going to be good. We need to be prepared for what'll come next." said Tsunade, giving a firm look. "Enough, it's past 12 pm, you guys should be tired from traveling all the way here. I'll explain the mission tomorrow."

"Sure." said Kankurou briefly.

"I need more coffee. You all can go now." said Tsunade, heading to the other door of the room. Suddenly, a girl appears before her.

"Tsunade-sama! You shouldn't drink more coffee again." said a gorgeous girl. She has beautiful set of light golden eyes and she had flawless white skin. She was wearing a black-red glasses and her hair was tied with a

"Eh, Rika-chan?" said Tsunade.

Gaara couldn't believe his eyes and his green eyes darken.

The voice. The name. The face…

"Gaara, what's wrong?" said Temari who noticed Gaara have the expression of seeing a ghost or something.


End file.
